A Reason to Live
by Tabbyfire
Summary: A girl from the Seam in District Twelve. A crime committed years back, and an innocent blamed for it. Motherless, poor, and strong, Ember enters the Hunger Games with no hope of returning, when the tall, dark-haired boy from District Seven comes along. Then she learns there is something more to live for.
1. The Reaping

**Chapter 1 : The Reaping**

I'm scared. Of course, probably all of us are since today is the reaping for the seventy-first annual Hunger Games. I crawl out of bed in my chilly, drafty house in the Seam. Coal dust prints on the floor confirm my worst fears. My father is home. Another black eye today. I check my bruises from last night, get dressed in a peach-colored skirt and white blouse, put up my hair in a ponytail with two small braids hanging in my face.

Luckily, he's still asleep. I wake my little sister, Claire, and get her dressed as well. She's too young for the reaping, though, but she still has to go. I think about waking my father, but that might result in a bloody nose. So I just go outside for a bit, until time for the reaping. My father walks with us, and I sign in. Me being fourteen, my name is in there only fifteen times, but still, I could get picked. The eligible girls and boys are in separate roped-off areas, while the parents and young siblings and ones that are too old for the reaping stand outside of it. I take a deep breath, and hope that my name is not picked.

A woman with a long, blue wig welcomes us and the mayor reads the history of Panem and how the Games began. I tune him out, because I've heard it enough times to know it by heart. Once he's finished, he introduces the woman, whose name is Opal Young.

"Ladies first!" she says, and reaches into the ball and pulls out the first slip she touches. My heart stops as she reads it. Ember Festa. Me. I'm escorted up to the stage by Peacekeepers, and since this is live, I show no emotion as I step up to the stage. I stand there, looking straight ahead, ignoring my little sister's cries, because if I look at her, I'm sure to cry.

Opal fiddles around in the boy's ball for a while, and finally grabs one and reads it. "Gavin Redfield."

A tall, dark-haired and hazel eyed boy steps up, older than me but by two or three years. We turn to the Justice Building, tears threating to spill from our eyes, and are escorted inside.

I sit in a padded chair in the room where I am to say my goodbyes. No one comes for about twenty minutes, but finally the door opens and Claire, tears in her one eye that is not black, runs into my arms.

"Don't go, Ember." She cries, and I hold her in my lap.

"I have to, Claire. But I'll try to win, okay? So I can come home again." I say, trying to reassure her. She wipes her eyes, and when they come to take her away, she says, "Come home, Ember." Now tears are starting to spill, but I quickly dry them and stand, pacing around the room, until they escort me to the train that will take us to the Capitol. I've never been on a train before, and when I see the inside of it, I smile. At least I get to spend my last few days in luxury.

I go to my compartment to change, and as I take off the skirt, I find a wooden ring in a pocket, that fits me just perfect. I take a shower, figuring out the buttons, and dress in a black shirt embellished with silver sequins around the collar, and gray pants, which I have to use a belt with. I put my light brown hair up in the ponytail and braids that my mother taught me how to do before she died. I have her bluish-gray eyes and thick eyelashes.

I want her with me now, but I can't, so I just get over it and take a nap until Opal comes and gets me for dinner.

When I see the feast before me, I think, _How in the world are we going to eat all this? _I sit across from Gavin and Haymitch Abernathy, District twelve's only living victor, who is, of course, our mentor. And a drunkard.

I only eat a bit, because I know the consequences of eating too much, which might be a surprise, but still, I don't want to be sick. And I'm right. Gavin eats too much and he throws up for about ten minutes.

I, on the other hand, feel fuller than I have in months, maybe even years. After dinner, we watch the recaps of the reapings. The District 1 tributes, who win pretty often, look strong and well-fed. Scary, if you think about it. District by district, we watch the tributes walk up, some smiling and bowing, most just stunned and even crying.

The next day, we pull up to the Capitol, where colorful-looking people are lined up at the station, ready to watch us die. _What if these were your sons and daughters, or even you, getting ready to be slaughtered in an arena filled with twenty-three other tributes? _ I think, angry with them for enjoying this. I don't go to the window, although Gavin does, but just to watch. He doesn't smile or wave, just watches, and turns around sometimes and wrinkles his nose at me then smiles so the people won't see what he thinks of them. I hold back a smile. I know exactly how it feels.

* * *

I've been in the Remake Center for nearly a day, getting ready for my stylist to examine me. My prep team has stripped me of all the hair on my body, except for a bit of my eyebrows. I hate it. It feels horrible, burning and vulnerable. I stand there, naked, waiting for my stylist. My prep team goes out, and my stylist, a young but flamboyant man, enters. He looks somewhat normal, although he could do without the purple eye shadow. His hair is an almost normal shade of misty gray.

"Hello. I'm Lake, your stylist." He has that Capitol accent, but it's not as strong.

"Hello." I say, looking him over. He takes in my entire body, not touching, just looking at it. He doesn't circle me, just stands where he is and looks. He tells me to put on my robe and have a talk.

"You're new?" I ask.

"No, actually, I've been here a while." he answers. I nod. We spend about an hour talking and he's not so bad.

"About your costumes," he begins, "We have something special. Something that you'll have to wait and see for yourself." He says, which takes me by surprise.

"Okay. I can't wait to see it." I say.


	2. Chariot Ride

**Chapter 2: Chariots and Stunts**

When Lake shows me my costume I will wear for our chariot ride, I nearly faint. At first it's just a black, coal colored dress, but when I try it on, it is up to my knees in the front, but flowing to the floor in the back. I walk around a bit, and what I discover is that when I walk, little stripes of red and orange flicker from the back, that looks like lava almost. Gavin's is the same concept only his a full-body leotard with a cape that has the lava running down it. My shoes are high-heels with orange and red blending straps that wind up my legs, up to my midcalf.

When it's time for the ride, I find myself unprepared. But I soon get over it when Lake gives me the ring. I don't know what it is about the ring, but it makes me feel better, in a way. I feel the chariot start to lurch forward, and I hear the crowd scream. Gavin waves and smiles, and soon, I do too. I relax, it kind of feels natural, like I've done it a million times. I wonder if Claire and my father are watching me now, cheering for me like the rest of the crowd is. We circle one last time and enter the Training Center.

The Training Center is bigger than I'd originally thought. Each district gets a floor, with District 12 on the top floor. This will be my home until the Games start.

Something that's been bugging me is the ring. I really haven't gotten a good look at it yet, so I take it to my room and examine it. Turns out it belonged to my mother, because it has her initials, _R. F. _ carved into it. Wedding ring, no doubt. It also has on the inside, _Push through the storm and learn to dance in the rain. _ I've decided to let it be my token, a symbol of home. It's a crude, wooden ring, but I've seen worse. And it gives me comfort, knowing that I still have a piece of her with me when I die.

There is a three day time period in which all twenty-four tributes train together. I don't like it, because I have a few abilities that might make me the laughing stock of the Games. Luckily, Haymitch tells us to steer clear of anything we're good at, like knife throwing or something. And we do. I learn some new skills, like edible plants and how to make traps. Gavin seems glued to what the Careers are doing. He watches their every move, and this could come in handy, so I don't stop him.

As I'm trying to figure out the spear throwing station, a boy, about my age, from District 7, introduces himself as Harmony Daniels, is actually very skilled in this particular section. He can throw from fifty yards away. He helps me, which also improves my knife throwing skills. He smiles a lot around me, and I find it attractive, with his brown eyes and dark brown hair. We even agree to be allies. I show him everything I know, so does he in return. On the last day, the private session with the Gamemakers, he wishes me luck.

"What's that about?" asks Gavin, puzzled. I look down to the floor, embarrassed.

"Oh, I know, is he your boyfriend now?" he teases.

"No. We just agreed to be allies. He's taught me a lot." I answer, my cheeks red.

"Whatever you say." He says as they call him. So I'm the only one that's left, and it's only twenty minutes until I'm called, but it feels like an eternity.

When I get in there, I immediately grab my best weapon. A sword, two, actually. I learned a little before I came to the Capitol. I glance at the Gamemakers, who look with confusion at me. I smile. I head for the nearest full-bodied dummy and sling one of the swords and cut off its head with ease. I move on the next, taking out one after another using both swords, sometimes taking out two at the same time.

I'm about to move on to the next one when I hear a voice say, "You may go now, Miss Festa." I nod and, panting, put up the swords in their exact places.

After dinner, we go to the sitting room and watch the training scores. Eight to ten for most of the Careers. Harmony gets a nine. I'm surprised when I get a ten, and Gavin gets an eight. We congratulate each other, and split up to prepare for the interviews tomorrow night. Opal teaches me the basics of how to be a 'civilized human being'. I roll my eyes at this comment, but deep inside it hurts, stings, even. I practice walking in flat sandals, and in high heels. After the session is over, my feet are sore, and my brain hurts, but Opal says I've improved my question and answer skills, and I'm also intelligent with my answers.

The next day we spend going over what we've learned and then I see my interview dress, a strapless, purple silk dress that's ruffled on the bottom, from the knee and slanting downward. It's completed with a purple silk rose on the shoulder, the perfect touch. I have a silver bracelet, and they try to make me take off the ring, but I refuse. Besides, it actually looks good with the dress. They want me to do my hair in my usual style, and it looks amazing with the dress.

When we get there, I feel sick. The whole place is full, and I've never been in front of this many people before. Although from my point of view, they're not really people at all. I take a deep breath. _Maybe I should try to imagine them in their underwear, like my mom always told me to do when I get nervous, _ I think. I smile at the thought. What I remember from my mother is that she was funny, not really modest, but still, she was my mother.

I don't really listen to any of the interviews, and when they call me, I clutch the ring tightly on my finger and step onto the stage, my heart pounding so fast I wonder if they can hear it. But as I sit in the chair next to Caesar Flickerman, the guy who's done the interviews for as long as I can remember, I feel my mother here with me, pushing me on.

Caesar and I get off to a good start, asking me if I'm ready for the Games, telling me that he liked our costumes for the chariot ride around the City Circle.

"I've got to ask, Ember, how have you managed this far without breaking down? I mean, most of the time tributes cry. But you don't seem to do that." He asks me.

"Well, I have lots of support from home," I lie. "My sister and father give me lots of courage." I say with a smile.

"Well, best of luck to you, Ember Festa." He says as the buzzer goes off, indicating my time is up. Then Gavin goes up, looking handsome in a gray suit.

His interview is just another to me. Joking, laughing from the crowd, saying he's totally ready for the Games.

After dinner, we watch the recaps of the interviews. I'm not too bad, and Gavin isn't, either.

* * *

The next morning, we're taken on a hovercraft where a doctor implants a tracker into my arm. Then I'm taken to the Launch Room, where Lake gets me ready. I don't know much about Gavin's stylist, only her name, Cariba. The outfits for this year's Games is an insulated jacket with black pants and a thin, long-sleeved shirt. I slide on the thick boots, and put on the ring.

"Good luck." Says Lake. I nod.

I step onto a metal plate and a tube slides around me. _Here I go, ready to die._ I think. As the metal plate rises, I close my eyes, and take a deep breath.


	3. Let the Games Begin

**Chapter 3: Let the Games Begin**

I look around me, and the arena seems to be mostly woods. Except for a clear plain on the far left, which provides very little concealment, if you think that tall grass is concealment. No one in their right mind would go in there. I spot two swords, although they're very close to the Cornucopia. I will get them, even if it means getting in the midst of the bloodbath. That's my best weapon, and I'm not letting it go.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-first annual Hunger Games begin!" says the announcer. The gong sounds, and I zoom towards the swords, but when I get close to them, I feel something slam into me, a body, and then I see the knife come whizzing past me, and hit a boy in the side.

"Go!" I hear a voice say, and someone hands me the sword. I get out from under the body, and start running toward the nearest opponent, and stab them in the stomach. Now I'm getting somewhere. But then I don't see any more coming after me, so I head towards the woods, grabbing a water container.

I hear footsteps following me, so I turn and brace myself, but when the bushes tremble, I see that it's only Harmony. I relax.

"Oh, it's you. I thought you were one of those Careers," I say.

"Nope. Just me," He says with that winning smile of his. It looks like he got a knife in his arm. It doesn't seem to be deep, but still.

"What happened there?" I ask, nodding towards his arm. He looks like he never even noticed it. He shrugs.

"Let's move a little farther and I'll take care of that," I say. He nods. We go farther than I thought we would be able to in such a short time.

We come upon a small stream. That's when the cannons start to sound, one after another, seven in all. I wonder if Gavin was among them.

"Only seven?" asks Harmony, surprised.

"Yeah, I guess there just wasn't as much action this time." I say. But then that means the Gamemakers will be aching to kill one of us for the crowd. The thought makes me shudder. Harmony seems to be thinking the same thing, because he looks around, like he hears something.

I sit down on a large boulder near the stream, and fill the container with water, and Harmony seems to have gotten a pack from the Cornucopia. We look in it, and it must have been pretty close to mouth because it has a bottle of iodine, another water container, some bits of food, a first-aid kit, with important and basic stuff, like bandages, but also a tiny tube of burn ointment, and other stuff.

I treat Harmony's arm and clean my sword, which now is encrusted with dried blood. We purify some of the water and make sure we have everything before moving on. About a mile downstream, we hear the bushes rustling, and I draw my sword, and three figures burst from the bushes, with knives and axes. _Careers!_ I think, and before they can even do anything, I swing my sword at the nearest one and blood spatters my face. Her head is soon rolling into the water, leaving a trail of blood behind it.

I deflect a blow from an axe and sling my sword when the axe is away from the body, and get him right in the side. There's no sign of the third, but I still don't relax. I look around for Harmony, and I see him, standing over the third, knife poised and ready to give the death blow. He looks over at me, and I nod, and he sticks her in the heart.

"Nice job." I say, and three cannons go off, signaling the three are dead. We move away from them, leaving their bodies but taking what we want from them. Only a serrated edged knife and a pair of night vision glasses. We keep going and finally stop at a small waterfall, where I once again clean my sword and face. Then I notice that I haven't eaten since the Games began.

"I'm going to hunt for a bit. I'm starving." I say.

"I'll come with you. You don't know what or who could be out there." he says.

I shake my head. "No, I have a sword. I think I can handle it."

"Are you sure? Just don't go too far. Just in case," he says.

"Alright. I'll try to get whatever I can," I say. I turn and go towards the woods, going about a mere sixty yards away from the stream. I find a rabbit and a squirrel. Not much, but at least it's food. Now it just needs to be cooked. A cannon goes off, and I'm scared that it was Harmony. I mean, I left him alone, what if it was him? I hurry back, and he crashes into me about halfway.

"I thought that was you, and I was worried." I say.

"Me too. But looks like we're both okay." he says.

We walk back to the stream, where I gut and skin the animals.

"Now we just need a fire or something." I say, looking at the rabbit.

"Well, it is the middle of the day…..Do you think we should risk it?" he asks.

"I don't know. Maybe. It couldn't hurt." I say. But it could. We could be lighting a signal fire. "I'll see if I can get a small one going."

And I manage to get a small one, and the smoke isn't too bad. I fashion a spit from a few sticks, and I let it roast for a while. Then we just spend the rest of the day resting and recovering. It's not too hot, and it's not too cold, and I like it. I doze off in the sun, but I wake, telling myself that I can't sleep yet. I turn the spit and soon we're feasting on rabbit. It's a meal, a pretty good one at that. I climb up higher on some rocks, to get a good view of what I'm dealing with. I was right the first time I looked around. A vast plain on one side, woods on the other.

I climb down and say to Harmony, "Looks like the arena's divided into two sections. A plain in the east, woods in the west."

He nods and says, "Who in their right mind would go into the plain?"

"That's what I was thinking." I say. Just then, an idea hits me. "If no one would hide there …..then that means it's the perfect hiding place!"

"You're right. It would be!" he says brightly.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" I say. We pack up everything and head for the plain. It's almost as if it was cut in half. The trees just stop, not gradually thinning out, but all at once. Then all you can see is grass, taller than my head, for miles.

"Wow. But, don't you think that some of the other tributes found this out, too, and are hiding here as well?" asks Harmony. Oh. I never thought about that.

"We'll just have to take our chances." I say, and flatten a small area about twenty or twenty-five square feet, and set our stuff down.

As night approaches, Harmony and I sit next to each other, waiting for the nightly death report. The seal appears in the sky, and the anthem plays, and we see the girl from District 1, the boy from 4, both from 2, both from 6, the girl from 7, Harmony's district partner, both from 8, and the boy from 9. Ten in only the first day. That's got to be a record. But I'm glad that Gavin wasn't among them.

Harmony is sad about losing his partner, but he gets over it. He should've known it was going to happen sooner or later.

We still have the squirrel, but that may not last long. So I go and see if there's food around. Sure enough, after maybe a little more than a half hour, I have two more rabbits and a handful of some berries that I recognize from home. _Home…_ the word sends a sharp stab of pain through me as I realize I may never get home again. Who will take care of Claire, when my father is in one of his rages? She's only alive because of me. I take the blame for everything, because I don't want her to. Little, nine-year-old Claire. Yes, she does get hit every now and then, but I take the worst of it. I do it because I love her.

Suddenly, I have a surprising determination to win this thing. I slice through the dense grass, not caring if I leave a trail.

Harmony is still up when I get back, sitting with his legs crossed, elbows on his knees, a spear in his lap.

"Catch anything?" he asks. I hold up the rabbits and berries in answer. I decide it's not good to light a fire in this field, because there's no telling how fast a fire could catch out here. And it's too dark, anyway. We'd be inviting everyone here. So we just eat the berries. I offer to take first watch, and he doesn't object.

"I hope it doesn't come down to the two of us, because I'd probably lose," he says with a laugh.

"Probably," I say, smiling.

"I've never seen you smile. I like it." he says.

"It's been a while," I confess. "There's not much to smile about back home. Except maybe Claire."

"Your sister?" he asks.

"Yeah," I say, looking at the ground. He lays down on his back, hands under his head, gazing at the stars.

"You know, my mother used to tell me that each star was a spirit. One star for each spirit," he says. "And the moon was their protector." I smile.

"I may be joining them soon," I say with a laugh.

"Maybe," he says. He closes his eyes and falls asleep almost immediately. I sigh. I keep thinking about Claire, wondering whether or not she's watching. I don't know how I'm still alive.

I walk around, trying to keep myself busy. I sit down after a few hours, and I feel my eyelids getting heavy. I jump when I feel a hand on my shoulder, but I relax when I see it's Harmony. "I'll take it from here," he says. I don't object. Soon I'm curled up in a ball and engulfed in a flurry of dreams. They go so fast, whenever I try to grab hold of one, five more slip through my fingers.

I wake with a start. I can tell I've slept longer than I should have, because it's well into the morning when I wake.

But it looks like it didn't bother Harmony. He's got a tiny fire going, making sure it doesn't get too big. He's already got the rabbits roasting and has eaten part of the squirrel.

"You were up all night," I say. "You need to sleep."

"Okay, Ember." he says, and I can tell that he is tired, because is voice is slightly slurred. I eat the rest of the squirrel and walk around, glancing at Harmony, his curly black hair, his brown eyes. And suddenly, I feel something inside me, a creature that only stirs when I see Claire smiling and happy. Only, this creature is much stronger, and beats the inside of my chest like a ram. I nearly cry out when a sharp pain shoots up my spine. Instead I give a small shriek, and cover my mouth with my hand, as tears threaten to spill over. _What was that? _I think. I probe my back with my hands as best I can, but I feel nothing. _What was it?_ I keep thinking. And then I know. I keep telling myself it can't be, that it can't last. But somehow I don't believe even what I tell myself.

I look over at Harmony, who is smiling in his sleep, and know that it's true. That what I feel is really what I feel. And I've never hated myself more.


	4. Lovestruck

**Chapter 4: Lovestruck**

I let Harmony sleep until noon, then I can't risk it any longer. He tries to make me sleep, but I tell him we have to move.

After about a mile, he starts to sing an old mountain song, purposely making his voice sound horrible. I smile and cover my ears.

"What? You don't like my singing?" he asks with fake hurt in his voice. I shake my head, but I'm still smiling.

"Can't hear you," I say.

"Oh, really?" he says, and picks me up, making me uncover my ears. But he trips and we both fall to the ground, laughing. But I stop myself. I can't get too attached to him. If I do, will I be able to kill him if comes down to it? Probably not. That's why I can't fall for him. I'll just end up dead because I won't be able to kill him when it comes to it.

"Let's keep moving," I say, the laughter gone from my voice. I feel him staring at me. "What?"

"Nothing," he says. I have my sword in my hand, gripping it so tightly my hand is white. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I answer. "Just keeping an eye out." I don't look at him. I can't. He gets up and I just stand there, my back turned. My lip quivers, and I'm suddenly scared I might cry. But I don't. I walk forward, determined to stay alive no matter what. I push the terrifying thoughts away and let encouraging ones in. Like if I win, I'll get to see Claire's nine-year-old face again, her somewhat chubby cheeks and dark brown, almost black, eyes. Her face is what keeps me going. I wonder how she's handling our father. As far as I'm concerned, he's not my father. Not anymore.

My head is so filled with thoughts, I jump when Harmony says, "It's dark, Ember. We need a rest." Just then, the anthem plays, but no faces light up the night sky.

"Right," I say. "Do you think we should risk a fire?"

"No. Not tonight," he says.

Again I flatten out a small area and lie down, sword right beside me, in fact, it's practically in my hand, just in case. There's no moon tonight, so it's pretty much pitch black. I can't seem to sleep, so I just sit there by Harmony, trying to work things out.

"I wonder when the audience will get a show," I say. My guess is they'll get bored soon and the Gamemakers will have to pump it up a bit.

As if on cue, a cannon fires.

"I hope that's your answer," replies Harmony. _Me, too. That should keep the audience for a while. _I think, and can only hope the battle was bloody.

After a while, I find myself actually humming. Humming, which I only do for Claire, and even then, I won't even do it for her sometimes. When my mother was alive. That was the only time music was ever present. Then, my father was actually happy. But after she died, he basically resigned from being our father. Now he's more like a non-caring…Whatever. He just stopped caring and now, now I've pushed him out of my life completely.

"You alright?" asks Harmony.

"Yeah, just thinking," I answer.

"About what?" he asks.

"Everything. The Games, home, everything," I answer.

"Sometimes thinking about it makes it worse," he says, and reaches for my hand. I don't recoil. Instead I let his fingers intertwine with mine. Then I feel that thing, the monster, the creature beating against my breastbone again. But instead of pushing it away and trying to tame it, I let hit as hard as it can, and welcome it. For once in my life, I feel safe. Like if a pack of giant cougars jumped out right now, they wouldn't be able to touch me.

I start to sing full songs, lyrics and all. After a few, Harmony lies down and falls asleep, but I don't stop singing. I like it. Mostly because I've been dying to sing for so long but it reminds me too much of my mother. But tonight I let out the tears and after, I feel much better. Emotionally and physically. After about four hours, Harmony wakes and makes me sleep.

My dreams are sweet. Everything dances. Me, Claire, and my mother dancing with the fireflies on a cool summer night. Then my father, dancing with my mother, her cool amber gaze fixated on him, her light brown hair flowing as he spins her in the air. I think I know why my father won't even look at me anymore. I remind him too much of our mother.

I wake, actually feeling happy. Harmony is not anywhere in sight. I worry, and call softly for him.

"Boo!" I jump about ten feet into the air, sword poised to strike. Harmony stands behind me, his teeth showing in a huge grin. I collapse onto my back, eyes closed. I hold my breath so that it looks like I've stopped breathing.

"Ember?" I hear him say. "Ember!" He is now frantic. I can feel his breath against my skin.

"Aah!" I open my eyes suddenly and I see him fall back. I laugh.

"Got you!" I say. He just shakes his head and smiles, as if I've gone crazy. I may be crazy, but I don't care.

"Guess I deserve that," he says.

"Yeah, you do," I say, still laughing. I have this thing, that whenever I laugh really hard I cross my eyes, and he just stares at me, starting to laugh, too.

"You burned out yet?" he asks after a few minutes.

"Almost," I answer, still faintly laughing. "Just give me a minute."

When I finally stop laughing, we find a small pond where we fill up our water tins. We rest, and just relax. No sign of the other tributes. No sign of really anything.

"This silence is very creepy," I say.

"And scary," adds Harmony. "Do you think they're planning something now?"

"Maybe," I say.

"Do you think we should move?" he asks me. I shrug.

"Until they do something, let's just stay here," I say.

"Hey, look!" he says. He picks up a small nut. "Try it."

"Why? It could be dangerous," I say.

"Oh, come on," he says. I sigh. But what do I have to lose?

"I'm going to regret this.." I say. I place it inside my mouth. It has a bitter, almost earthy taste. It's gross.

"How is it?" he says.

"Blech," I say, and stick out my tongue to emphasize my distaste for it. I glare at him while he just grins.

"Now we know it's not dangerous," he says, laughing a little. I can tell now he knew all along it wasn't dangerous. For once I don't feel like I'm in the Games. I feel like I'm home, safe and sound. This boy, from District 7, has made me feel like this.

"I'll show you what's dangerous," I say, and push him into the water. I sit there, pretty satisfied with myself, when his hand reaches from between some reeds, and pulls me in with him. I was definitely _**not**_ planning on getting wet today. Luckily I can swim. I throw my arms around his neck and he wraps his around me. I enjoy this. I feel a real connection with him now. But I don't hate it. I _love _it.

**What do you think so far? Hm? If you don't like it, I'll send Ember after you! If you do, then I won't. Please review! **


	5. DJ Got Us Falling in Love Again

**Chapter 5: DJ Got Us Falling in Love Again**

_**First up. Don't ask why I named the chapter that. It just seemed like a good title. Didn't it? Didn't it? Please say yes! Anyway, enjoy! (It might be a little gory, but whatever.) Oh, and don't question Harmony's name! It offends me. **_

No one has ever made me feel like this. Only when Harmony came along did I really feel like I belonged somewhere. That I had a name.

Burying the remains of what used to be some kind of squirrel, we make our way down a steep hill. I go ahead, sliding easily down the hill without tripping, while Harmony has to pick his way down carefully.

"You don't climb much, do you?" I ask once he's down at the bottom with me.

"Not really," he answers.

"Oh, well," I say, like it's no big deal. It's getting hotter, so much hotter, that Harmony suggests I cut my hair. I take my sword and hold up my hair, cutting off most of it. I look like a boy now, which is weird. But it's a lot cooler. Although mosquitoes bite the back of my neck, a lot.

"I guess they just like your scent," says Harmony.

"I don't see how you stand this," I say.

"I just do," he says. Over the next few days, I develop a wet cough.

"You okay?" he asks after one of my coughing spells.

"I'm fine," I say, but the coughing still continues. I end up feeling miserable, my throat raw, it seems, all the time. My voice begins to get hoarse, and I get weaker every day. I refuse to eat, but I do know the importance of drinking water, so I do that, but soon it gets to the point where I can't swallow.

"Maybe we can get a sponsor to send us medicine?" Harmony suggests.

"Maybe," I agree."It better be soon because I feel awful."

"I know," he says. "Stop talking. You'll make it worse." I nod. And then I think I may die. From a cold, no less. I think Harmony is more scared than I am. I can see it in his eyes. But then, after maybe two days, finally we receive a parachute. Sure enough, it has a small thing of the medicine from the Capitol. And in about three days, I'm fully recovered and on my feet again.

One day, as we're just sitting there, I ask out of the blue, "Harmony, what's your favorite color?"

"Blue," he answers.

"Like, bright blue?" I ask.

"No, more like sky blue. Yours?" he asks.

"Pink," I say.

"Pink?" he asks, a little shocked.

"Yeah, I know. I don't seem like the kind of girl who likes pink," I say.

"Yeah, you don't. But I don't care," he says. That's when I look into his dark brown eyes, lose myself in them. Then, before I know what's going on, he's leaning in, and I let my lips touch his. Strong and steady, warm and full. When we pull away, I'm at a loss for words. Suddenly I get an idea. I get up and start running towards the woods. I have something I need to get.

It takes me about an hour to get to the stream that separates the plain and the woods, and there, I find it. A blue rose, the color of the sky. He didn't follow me, but that's good. All the more for the surprise. I take my knife and cut the stem, and start running back. He's still there, looking at the ground, eyes full of sadness. He probably thought I was running away because we kissed. He's throwing rocks at a larger one, breaking them into pieces.

"Don't cut yourself," I say.

"I thought you-" I cut him off.

"I know. But it wasn't for that reason," I hold up the rose. What's that in his eyes? Relief? Yeah, that's it.

"Where'd you find that?" he asks.

"By the stream. I thought of it, and I knew you liked blue. So, I picked it," I answer.

"Thanks," he says, and takes it from my hand. He unexpectedly positions it in my hair, behind my ear. "But it looks much better on you."

I smile and throw my arms around his neck. Tears threaten to spill from my eyes.

"This is crazy, you know that?" I say.

"I know. But I don't care," he says. A cannon goes off, and we see the hovercraft only a mere hundred yards away. I get my sword and run in the direction of it. There's about three tributes standing back to back in a triangle. One girl, and two boys.

Harmony's right beside me, spear in hand. I grin. We look at each other for a split second, and we charge in. Time seems to slow as I swing my sword like a club and hit the girl in the side of the head, spraying my face with blood, but not before she gets a knife in my foot. The pain is blinding, but I keep moving, yanking the knife out. I trip over a body of one of the boys. Then someone grabs my ankle but I can't see because the blood has blinded me. Then the grip loosens and I free my ankle. Then when I get my vision back, I see the boy and Harmony wrestling on the ground and see that he has a large gash on his chest, and a knife in his hand. I can see the boy is very inexperienced in fighting, and Harmony quickly overtakes him and slits open his throat with one quick motion. Three cannons sound, and that's when I see him fall to the ground.

"No!" I shriek. I rush over and drag him the short distance to our camp, trying not to look at the deep gash. When I get his head propped up on a pile of grass, I make myself look at the gash which is gushing blood. I fumble around the backpack, looking for the first-aid kit, find it, and try to clean the gash as best I can, and wrap a bandage around his chest to make sure I cover up the wound. I stroke his forehead and sing a little. He's still breathing, and I think the gash has stopped bleeding, so I just sit there, waiting for something to happen. It's several hours before I hear him give a faint moan.

"Ember?" he asks, and his brown eyes focus on me.

"It's me," I say. He tries to sit up, but I push him back down. I feel his chest, strong and hard, against my hands. Then I remember my foot. I can't believe I forgot about it.

I take off my shoe and what I see is horrific. One of my toes is sliced off completely and the toe is still in the shoe. It's all I can do not to puke. My foot's still bleeding, but I find a needle and thread in the first-aid kit, and after an amateur sewing job, it looks much better. Night is falling and I see the boy from District 1, followed by the girl and boy from Three light up in the sky and the seal is back and then everything is dark. My stomach starts growling, and I'm about to go hunting when a parachute comes down and lands in my outstretched hand. A large, covered bowl is attached to it. I uncover it and see various fruits, along with a whole chicken. _Thank you, Haymitch,_ I think. I eat an orange and a chicken leg. Harmony eats only a slice of a blue melon.

The next morning, I check each of our wounds and redress them. My foot looks better, and I know that I won't have my middle toe anymore. What's worse, my toes are very long, so you can tell. And it makes me a bit off-balance, so I just sit or lie down. But in this time, I get to know more about Harmony, and I open up to him, too. He's an only child, his brother died when he was six, still has both his parents, and they spoiled him somewhat.

"It doesn't show," I say with a smile.

"I'm glad," he says. "What about you?"

"Oh, gosh, where to start?" I say with a laugh. For the first time, I actually open up. I tell him everything. I let the words tumble out. When I finish, I take a deep breath and sigh, feeling good that I finally got what has been burdening me forever off my chest.

"Wow. That makes my life look like paradise," he says. And it does, in comparison. But I just shrug.

"I guess," I say. We just sit there and talk until nightfall. We eat, then I sing him to sleep (That's become our little routine).

I see no action at all tonight. I stick the blade of my sword into the soft earth and pace, trying to stay awake, getting used to having four toes instead of five on my right foot. My hair is starting to get a little longer, and it's dirty, so I take a bath in the small pool. The water is freezing, but the air is actually very warm. Huh. Oh, well. At least I'm not caked with dirt anymore. And it helped to wake me up a bit.

When I'm dressed, I see that Harmony's awake and laying on his side. I sit beside him with my legs crossed. He takes my hand in his and our eyes lock on each other's, our eyes saying all the things we need to. I lean down and kiss him, feeling warm and fuzzy. Which is the way I always feel when I kiss him.

"Any action yet?" he asks.

"Nope," I answer. "Our competition is keeping a very low profile."

"Suspicious," he says.

"Very," I agree. I lay down beside him and let his arms envelope me. I drift off, actually feeling happy, our foreheads touching. I smile. I feel safe. Nothing can harm me now.

**You likey? I hope so!**

**Oxoxoxoxo,**

**Tabbyfire**


	6. Going Under

**Chapter 6: Going Under**

I feel Harmony's breath on my neck, his arms still around me.

"Morning," he whispers.

"Morning," I whisper back, smiling. I feel him slip something onto my middle finger. I open my eyes and look down at my hand. My mother's ring.

"Where did you find it?" I ask. I didn't even realize it was missing.

"Where we killed those three tributes," he answers.

"Thanks," I say.

"No problem. I just noticed it was missing last night," he says.

"Let me check your wound," I say, sitting up. The gash looks so much better, compared to a day ago. It's starting to heal, so I remove the bandage and see how it does without one.

"Just don't move much. It'll make it bleed again," I say.

"Okay," he replies. I pretty much keep him lying down the whole time. When I say, "Don't move," I start to think I said, "Move as much as you can," in his mind. After about an hour, he becomes fidgety and keeps trying to sit up. I have to keep pushing him back down and threatening to tie him to the ground if he doesn't stop.

"I want to be doing something. Something useful other than lying here," he complains.

"Well, you won't be doing anything if you reopen that wound," I say. I lean down and kiss him, letting warmth flood my senses. When I pull away, he just smiles at me, nods, and closes his eyes. He drifts off. Good. I hum and push away the strands of hair from his forehead. I sort out everything. My hands are not still, and yet I feel like I need to be doing something. But what? I pace, I walk around, I even resort to talking to myself. The arena has done something to my head.

It gets even hotter, and I become uncomfortable. I lay out on the grass, my limbs sprawled out in a semi-comfortable position that's a little cooler. I hate this heat. I hate it. _I hate it! _I scream in my mind over and over again. My muscles tense in annoyance. I'm grateful for a light breeze that comes every once in a while. If it gets any warmer, I might just catch on fire. I go over to a pool about fifty yards away and stick my whole face in the cold water.

Suddenly, I feel a hand on my neck, and I can't come up for air. Someone is trying to drown me! My heart races, and my lungs scream for air, but I force myself to be calm. I kick out hard with my left leg and feel it hit its target. I come up, gasping, to find the boy from District 10 holding his stomach. He quickly gets back up and grabs me by my hair, and pushes my head back into the water. I fight back, but the guy's about twice my size, and I start to scream. He punches me in the jaw, but I still scream. He pushes my head back in, and I thrash around, finding and grabbing hold of something hard and metal. I try to uncover it, but instead I get an intense electrical shock that runs through me. The grip on my head releases and I come up, shaking both from the struggle of the attack and the shock and the cold water. I fall into someone's arms, gasping, and a hand strokes my hair and I relax a little.

"It's alright, Ember," says Harmony in a soft voice. I relax even more now that I know it's him, and he picks me up and carries me to the camp. I can just catch a glimpse of the boy writhing on the ground. A few minutes later, we hear a cannon, and I know he's dead. Harmony holds me in his arms while I shake like one of those little dogs we see in the Capitol so much. And then I'm tired, like that shockwave sucked out all the energy I had. I can feel my jaw swelling up and it's hard to move it. I'm soaking wet and as the day turns into night, it gets colder, not helping my current situation of trying to avoid hypothermia. Harmony wraps a blanket that he got from who knows where, around me, and as I start to get warm and relaxed, I drift off into a sweet, refreshing, dreamless sleep.

_**I'm sooooo sorry for the short chapter! I was in sort of a hurry to get it done so I could get on to the next one, so, sorry.**_

_**XOXOXOXOXOXOXO,**_

_**Tabbyfire**_


	7. A Story

**Chapter 7: A Story**

**Guys, I've been pretty busy, so sorry for not updating. But I will finish this story one way or another. **

I'm awake, fully, and all I can think about is what happened yesterday. I felt nearly helpless. I've only felt like that once before, when my mother was taken away by the Capitol.

I was eight years old. It was a cold winter night, the wind blowing hard, seeping in through my coat and undershirt, chilling my bones and turning me into an icicle. I had gone out to buy a few pieces of meat from the butcher (with the money that we actually had back then), picking my way carefully back home. Then I heard my mother scream. I ran as fast as I could, knowing, just knowing, that something bad had happened. I got there just in time to see a squad of Peacekeepers haul her away, kicking and screaming. I ran after her, yelling for her. She told me to stay, and I did. I never saw her again. Nothing. I can barely remember what she looked like.

But I snap the thought from my mind, and close my eyes, feeling the cool wind on my face, focusing my ears to pick up any sort of sound in the distance. I lay down on my back, beside Harmony, who's deep in sleep, and look up at the stars. The moon hides behind some clouds, but comes out moments later to shine fully. I get up, pull out my sword from where I stuck it in the ground, and walk around, swinging it from side to side, cutting down the dense grass. I cut down an area separate from the campsite, and sit cross-legged on the hard ground. No fatalities today. I daydream about going home, what it might be like to be a victor, having all the money you need, enough food to last you your entire life. But then I'd be all alone. Except for Claire, but it just wouldn't be the same.

Then I have no idea what I'm going to do. If I die, and Harmony lives, then he'll be a victor to his own district, and then everything will be back to the way it was. With the Capitol ignoring us, and praising and showering the district that won with gifts and money and food. And our district would keep losing people to starvation. Like always. That's one thing that makes me mad. The Capitol has everything, electronics, food, clothes that aren't made of old rags, everything that we don't have. They ignore the poor districts, and drool over the rich ones. But I'm also glad that the Capitol ignores us. It could be a lot worse. Like District 11. I hear from some of the Peacekeepers that the Capitol has District 11 under lock and key. But it is a large district, so maybe they have to keep the reigns tight, so that it doesn't slip away completely. Anyway, I still hate the Capitol for leaving us to suffer. But maybe Harmony wouldn't move on. Maybe it would kill him that I was gone. Maybe he'd drown in his own sorrow. It twists my heart to even think of it. But what if we both died? Would we be free? Would the Capitol still rule even in death? No. Death is the only place where the districts can be free. Away from the Capitol's grip, free to do what we please.

"Why do you hate us so much?" I whisper, secretly to the Capitol, because for sure they have cameras watching me. I don't get an answer, but I already know it. The Capitol is self-centered, pampered brats. Why should they care about something that is beneath their notice? Someday, someday, maybe there will be peace. Maybe there will be no Capitol in the future. When everyone gets along and no more Hunger Games. No harsh winters that make people keel over. I throw myself down on my back and watch the sky.

I'm brought back to reality when I notice the soft pastel colors lighting up the sky. Dawn? Already? How long have I been sitting here? And I'm also jerked back by the sound of a cannon. Guess we'll find out who it was tonight. There can't be many of us left. I count on my fingers. Ten. Or, nine, now. The grass parts and Harmony sticks his head through.

"Are you alright?" he asks.

"Yeah. Just thinking," I answer.

"I seem to be doing more of that myself lately," he says. He sits on his knees beside me and I lay my head on his shoulder, watching the sun slowly rise.


End file.
